A pinny is a sleeveless shirt made of a thin material that is worn over existing clothing. Some team sports normally utilize a pinny during games or practice. It is normally worn during a sporting activity where players are broken up into two opposing teams to scrimmage against each other. The pinnies are reversible, with a different color on each side to identify team members. As such, pinnies are typically offered in one size and are usually made to fit the larger participant in the group. However, average to small sized participants, even with the use of athletic shoulder pads, as is the case in lacrosse, find that the pinny straps fall off the shoulder across the upper arm and restricts arm movement.
When participating in sports or competitive activities, optimal performance is important. Since pinnies tend to be of one size for the team and since a team is comprised of different sized players, some players have to wear an ill fitting pinny. An ill fitting pinny is frustrating to wear. Players wearing ill fitting pinnies are constantly pulling up their pinny straps as they tend to fall down often during the activity. When a pinny strap falls down, it normally cuts across the arm and prevents the arm from moving easily or prevents full range motion of the arm. When a player is running down the field, the straps tend to fall and flap on the shoulders and it can be an annoyance and a distraction to the player.
In a game and practice situations when players are wearing team pinnies and the pinny does not fit properly, players, coaches and parents have made a number of on-field modifications. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, one solution was to tape the back of the two straps 101 and 102 of pinny 100 together with athletic grip tape 104 to keep the straps from falling off the shoulders. While this alteration works in securing the pinny straps, thereby preventing the straps from falling on the shoulder, it is difficult to see the player's number 106 on the back of the pinny 100. The folds formed by the pinny 100 as a result of the taping obscure the player's number 106. The tape 104 has to be secured and removed by someone other than the player. Furthermore, the tape 104 looks messy and in order to take off the pinny 100, the grip tape 104 must be removed. The process of removing the tape is tedious, has to be removed by someone else, and results in a sticky pinny from the remaining residual tape adhesive, even after washing.
As another solution, as shown in FIG. 1B, the two straps 101 and 102 of pinny 100 are crisscrossed over the participant's head, thereby shortening the straps 101 and 102 to keep the pinny 100 from falling off the shoulders. This alteration requires the assistance from another person, like a coach or a parent. Coaches tend to use this method in the midst of a game when they notice a player is having difficulty with mobility because the pinny has slipped past their shoulders and a strap is restricting their arm movements. In sports that require a hat or a helmet, those items may need to be removed first in-order to crisscross the straps—which slows down the game. While this alteration method is somewhat effective in keeping the pinny straps on the shoulders, crisscrossing the straps of the pinny obscures the player's number 106 on the back of the pinny and any printing (normally the team name) on the front of the pinny (not shown). When a player's number 106 is obscured, it causes confusion among the players, coaches, referees and spectators.
In general, the above modifications are ineffective as a long term solution to the falling pinny straps. Both modifications have sloppy appearance and require adult assistance to make and remove the pinny modification. Further, both modifications obscure any printing on the back and/or front of the pinny, which usually includes the participants' numbers and the name of the organization or team.
Therefore, what is needed is an apparatus and method to secure the straps or sleeves of a sport or group pinny, which does not obscure any indicia on the pinny, and which can be easily put on and removed while staying secure during the intended activity.